By Donald Zuhn –

Last week, Mexican law firm OLIVARES reported that Mexico had published amendments to the Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property (FLPIP) on April 3, 2026, that introduce changes that will impact patent filing and prosecution strategies in that country.  The report notes that the amendments incorporate mechanisms that are commonly used in other jurisdictions and introduce new procedural tools aimed at increasing flexibility, legal certainty, and efficiency in the Mexican patent system.

Among the changes that will affect patent practice in Mexico are:

• Restoration of priority rights – allows applicants to restore priority rights within a two-month period following the expiration of the original deadline (i.e., 12 months for patents and utility models, and 6 months for industrial designs).  The report notes that this change aligns Mexico with international practices that provide corrective measures for priority claims.  Significantly, OLIVARES noted in a separate alert that the amendments to the FLPIP did not address the time limits applicable to national phase entries of PCT applications – but suggested that the recent amendments may open the door for Mexico to review and potentially lift the restrictions currently in place with respect to national phase applications.

• Provisional patent applications – allows applicants to secure an early filing date with reduced formal requirements, with the applicant then filing a complete application within a non-extendable 12-month period.  Mexican provisional applications may not claim priority from any prior application, will not be published, and will not be subject to examination.

• Priority documentation – allows the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) to require the submission of a certified priority document and its Spanish translation within five (5) business days following the expiration of the current term (i.e., three months from the filing date).

• Restoration of procedural rights – allows applicants to request reinstatement of rights lost due to missed deadlines, including the failure to respond to office actions or pay grant fees.  Requests for reinstatement must be filed within fifteen (15) business days from the expiration of the missed deadline (counted from the business day following the expiration of the missed deadline), together with the previously omitted requirement and payment of the corresponding official fee.  If the request is accepted, the IMPI will allow the application to continue prosecution.  The report notes that this change represents a shift from the prior system, where abandonment was final and irreversible.

• Reduced prosecution timelines and number of office actions – in an attempt to accelerate prosecution at the IMPI, this change establishes a maximum period of one year for the issuance of a final decision in patent, utility model, and industrial design applications, once substantive examination begins.  If after the one year period there has been no resolution, the applicant may request the issuance of a mandatory resolution through a newly created specialized technical committee that is appointed by IMPI’s board of directors.  The one-year maximum prosecution period will apply for patent applications filed after the amendments were published.  However, applicants having applications that were filed and pending prior to publication of the amendments can still apply for a mandatory resolution once the specialized technical committee has been assembled.

Regarding the above change, OLIVARES suggested that:

While the effort to reduce prosecution timeframes is recognized, there is general uncertainty on the feasibility for the Mexican PTO to handle this significant increase in their workload and if this shortening of timeframes could provoke a massive filing of requests for mandatory resolutions by applicants.  There is also concern that there will be a decrease in the quality of the substantive office actions in view of the reduced timeframes.

In addition to the one-year maximum prosecution period, OLIVARES noted in a separate alert last month that an amendment to the administrative regulations that was published in the Mexican Official Gazette in March reduces the number of substantive office actions from four to two for patent and utility model applications.  A third office action that either allows or denies the application will follow the previous two.  The administrative amendment reducing the number of office actions took effect on March 12, 2026, but does not apply to applications that were filed prior to the effective date, which will continue to be examined under the rules in force at the time the application was filed.

• Third-party observations – allows for the submission of third-party observations for utility model and industrial design applications within a two-month period from publication.  Under the prior system, third-party submissions were limited to patent applications.

The report notes that the changes took effect on the day after their publication and that pending applications would continue to be prosecuted under the legal framework that was in force at the time those applications were filed.  One of the alerts also notes that further developments are anticipated, as the implementing regulations of the new IP law are still pending issuance and are expected to be published in the near term.

OLIVARES has provided additional information regarding the amendments to the FLPIP on its website:

• “Amendments to Mexico’s Intellectual Property Law: Principal aspects for patent practice.“
• “Mexico introduces new corrective mechanism for priority documentation.“
• “Reinstatement of rights following missed prosecution deadlines.“
• “Mexico introduces provisional patent applications.“
• “Mexico introduces restoration of priority rights for patent, utility model and industrial design applications.“
• “Mexico reduces prosecution timelines.“
• “New Technical Committee Mechanism.“